The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for assembling a seat, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for fastening a flexible diaphragm to a seat frame which permits easy assembling and maintenance.
Seats must be comfortable and maintainable. The way a seat cushion and a seat frame work together, and how they are maintained in service, are critical to occupant comfort. More particularly, airplane seats and seat components must take into account weight, space availability, durability and cost constraints.
Many airplane seats include a seat diaphragm, which is the surface of the seat frame that comes into contact with the seat cushion. There are two types of seat diaphragm designs that have been used by seat manufacturers, fixed diaphragms and flexible diaphragms. Fixed diaphragms are typically made of flat or contoured sheet metal or composite materials such as fiberglass, and are typically easy to maintain, but not particularly comfortable. In addition, seats with fixed diaphragms can be relatively heavy and expensive.
Flexible diaphragms have been designed in a number of different styles, such as nylon fabric panels attached to front and rear parts of the seat frame, attached to side parts or to both the side parts and the front and rear parts. Other flexible diaphragms include stretchable synthetic materials which are attached to the front and rear parts of the seat frame, attached to the side parts, or attached to both the side parts and the front and rear parts. As compared with fixed diaphragms, flexible diaphragms can provide added comfort. However, flexible diaphragms typically require maintenance, including periodic tightening, since loosening or stretching of the flexible diaphragm may occur while the diaphragm is in service.
While it is known that, the maintenance of flexible diaphragms may be reduced by stretching the flexible diaphragm during installation to minimize stretching that occurs during service, existing mechanisms for this purpose are difficult to use, require separate tools, or are complicated and expensive in design and manufacture, and add significant weight to the seat assembly.
Based on the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for stretching a flexible seat diaphragm that overcomes the difficulties and drawbacks associated with prior art seat assembling methods.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive device for assembling a seat which permits assembling a flexible diaphragm to a seat frame with a minimum amount of effort and allows for easy maintenance of the flexible diaphragm while in service.
The invention is directed to a seat assembly which includes a chair frame which has spaced supports for holding a diaphragm to the frame, where the diaphragm has one edge connected to one of the spaced supports of the chair frame, and an opposite edge adjacent to another of the spaced supports of the chair frame. The seat assembly further includes an over center linkage for releasably coupling the opposite edge of the diaphragm to the another of the spaced supports of the chair frame in order to stretch the diaphragm between the spaced supports of the chair frame.